Former Pittsburgh Police Chief Guilty

Former Pittsburgh Police Chief Nathan Harper will be sentenced Feb. 25 after pleading guilty to federal charges that he conspired to misapply more than $70,000 and deposited the funds into unauthorized accounts at the $59.5 million, 5,908-member Greater Pittsburgh Police Federal Credit Union, according to court documents.

Harper also pleaded guilty Oct. 18 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh for failing to file income tax returns from 2008 to 2011.

The Greater Pittsburgh Police FCU was not a target of the federal investigation.

“We complied with the subpoena and we are not involved (in the investigation) other than producing the documents that were required from the subpoena,” Greater Pittsburgh Police FCU Karen Janoski told Credit Union Times when the story broke in the local media in February.

Harper acknowledged that he diverted more than $70,000 the city of Pittsburgh collected in fees from businesses that hire its officers to work off-duty assignments into two unauthorized credit union accounts, according to the Associated Press.

The former police chief also admitted to spending about $32,000 for his own benefit, but that the remaining $38,000 was spent on legitimate police business, the AP reported.